


Day Six: Secret

by kiraisstillhere



Series: 25 Days of Foxmas (2018) [6]
Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Fluff, F/M, but who doesn't, honestly they're goals, matt just really loves dan, so i had to give them love and christmas cheer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-11
Updated: 2018-12-11
Packaged: 2019-09-16 04:46:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16947273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiraisstillhere/pseuds/kiraisstillhere
Summary: Matt is getting Dan the best gift he can think of, but he's so bad at being subtle about secrets





	Day Six: Secret

Dan and Matt were couple of the year. They always were, but now they had a token of it, an early Christmas gift from Nicky, who had handed them the placard with a massive grin on his face. It was well-made, dark wood and an engraved metal part that declared them the official couple of the year. And now, they were heading into the city to do cheesy couple-of-the-year stuff, like taking a picture with Santa and looking at Christmas lights in rich neighborhoods.

“We should get everyone gifts too, while we’re out,” Dan said, her socked feet propped up on the dashboard. They were fuzzy socks, with polar bears on the toe. Matt had a matching pair on, tucked into his boots. Dan flipped the page of her magazine, looking at deals for the late Christmas shoppers.

Matt moved lanes to get to their exit and slowed at the red light. “What are you thinking?”

Dan shrugged, flipping the page again. “We could go the lame route and get everyone gift cards.”

Matt pressed the gas at the green light and turned into the city. “Parking is going to be horrendous, Dan.”

He could envision her smile while he looked for the mall’s parking complex.

“I had us up at eight in the morning for a reason, Matt.”

He found a parking spot in ten minutes, a feat that he had not expected. He knew that they were an hour early to the Columbiana mall opening, but Dan probably wanted to get breakfast and had planned accordingly. they got out of the car and Dan grabbed his hand, pointing in the direction of a diner down the street from the mall. Matt hoped that he could get Dan to break away from him at some point during their excursion - maybe he’d send her to go buy something for Allison.

They walked back to the mall holding hands.

Hands that Matt loved holding. Hands that were calloused from holding her racquet, even when she had gloves to protect them. Hands that didn't have slender fingers, but that didn't matter, because they were strong, and they knew what work felt like, and they knew how to be gentle even when they didn't look gentle. 

Hands that Matt was going to put a ring on.

They walked past the truck and through the doors to the mall, still holding hands. Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies” was playing over the stores speakers. Matt was glad that Dan couldn't relate to the song. 

The stores were full of holiday deals, along with holiday shoppers. It wasn't that far from Christmas, but apparently it was enough to finally light a fire under their asses about actually getting gifts for people. Matt and Dan wandered through the different department stores, trying to pick gifts for all the Foxes.

“Andrew would like these,” Matt said, looking at a massive set of cookware. “Neil says he likes cooking.”

Dan looked at the set Matt had picked, and then grabbed another from the rack. “We should get him the all-black ones, so that everything matches.”

They paid at the front and moved on to the next store. 

A few hours later, they had gifts for everyone but Allison and Renee, something that Matt had done on purpose. While it wasn’t out of the ordinary for him to shoo Dan away for a while so that he could buy a gift, he had a feeling that she was going to be suspicious if she didn’t see a giant bag.

Luckily, Matt had a hook-up with one of the guys from his health science class who worked at the Jared store in the mall.

“I’ll meet you outside of the Claire’s, in like an hour. I’m really bad at picking gifts for Allison and Renee, like, that’s a known fact. Please, you know I’ll just distract you in the store.”

Dan gave him him a skeptical look, but walked away toward the various clothing stores. Matt watched her disappear into one and then walked in the opposite direction.

“Ah, you’re here!” His classmate, Alex, grinned from behind the counter, his fancy suit making him look a lot more professional than his chosen outfits for school, most of which involved sweats and old shirts. He walked through the little door that looked ridiculous, considering that Alex was as tall as Kevin, if not taller. He shook Matt’s hand and lead him toward a case of rings.

“So, you still haven’t told me what you’re getting her, exactly,” Alex said. “All I know is that you want to get her a ring. But what kind? What do you want it to reflect about her? About you?”

Matt stuck his hands in his pockets. “See, that’s the thing. I don’t know what to get her. Hell, I haven’t even decided on whether it’s a promise ring or the real deal.”

“Okay,” Alex nodded, looking over the jewelry. “At least you know that it’s one or the other. A lot of people come in and they don’t know anything. The biggest thing is: are you ready to ask her?”

Matt ran his fingers through his hair - he hadn’t been awake enough to twist it into spikes, and he needed to let his hair rest anyway. “I think so, dude. It’s just like, I can’t believe it’s actually happening. I mean, we’re both fifth years, we’re twenty-three and twenty-four, it’s not like we’re too young for it. It’s just - I don’t even know.”

Alex nodded. “I get it, Matt, I do. A lot of guys come in here and they can’t believe that they’re buying an engagement ring. You’re not the first, don’t worry. But that’s why I’m here - I get paid to help you find the perfect one.”

Matt beamed. “Okay then, I guess it’s time I get my girlfriend the best ring I can find.”

An hour and fifteen minutes later, Matt had a bag from Jared shoved into a much larger Hot Topic bag. He grabbed Dan into a bear hug.

“You’re late,” Dan said, kissing Matt. “I had to move off to the side so people didn’t think I was going to steal from the store or take someone’s kid.” She stepped away to grab her bags, looking at Matt. “You were gone for an hour for Hot Topic?”

Matt shrugged. “I wanted to get Kevin something that reflected how emo he is.”

“You’re going to get a fist in the face for Christmas from him.”

Matt shrugged. “It’ll be worth it. We should get lunch.”


End file.
